Two new puppies

Got a new, young, furry love in your life? This is the place for you to ask all of your questions-big or small! Just remember that you are receiving advice from other dog owners and lovers... not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a vet or behaviorist! Most important is to remember to have fun with your new fur baby.

Member Since 04/23/2013

Barked: Tue Apr 23, '13 11:58am PST

My boyfriend and I will be getting two new puppies next month, a corgi and a lab. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions with bringing up two pups together, any "do's and don'ts" that come to mind we are very excited to get our boys, and want to make sure we bring them up right. Thank you

Raising two puppies at once can be tricky business as they will often bond very tightly with each other and subsequently bond less strongly to their people. You can also run into problems if the dogs become overly dependent on each other and freak out when separated.

Personally, my suggestion for raising two puppies at the same time would be: don't. However, if you're set on getting two, it's important they spend a lot of time apart. Separate crates, walks, training, feeding, socialization, ect. If I had to have two pups at once, I would honestly limit their interaction to 30-60 minutes a day.

It's very tempting to leave two puppies together all the time to play and tire each other out, but that's where you risk creating problems. Many people disagree and have raised two puppies together to their satisfaction. I like to have a dog that's extremely oriented to me and will choose to be with me above anything and everything else. Some people raise puppies together and still get dogs like that, but you do take a big risk you'll create a "doggy" dog that prefers the company of other dogs (or at least the dog it was raised with) by doing so. And trying to do any kind of training or traveling with a dog that's stressed by separation from its dog friend can be a big hurdle to overcome.

It's a personal choice, but I feel raising one puppy is a full time job. Getting two at once and raising them separately effectively cuts your time with each dog in half. If you and your boyfriend are each planning to get one pup and raise it, it makes the job a bit easier. It's not what I would do, but as long as the pups get sufficient time apart when they're young, you shouldn't have too many issues.

It is definitely achievable! However as the owner of two young male dogs, I will tell you, it's A LOT of work.

While it is very difficult, its rewarding too. Even if some days you feel you're just not getting anywhere, and you can't believe what you've gotten yourself into.. You need to shrug that off and be positive because it's so rewarding everyday to create this partnership with your dogs.

Train them separately! Make sure you train each dog individually. This helps you gain a bond with the individual dog and will help them both attach to you and not the other dog.

Your best investment is going to be a baby gate. You want to separate your dogs atleast one hour a day while you ARE home. Again, this is establishing their independence. As they get older, when you leave home, always keep them separate with the gate. You never know what could happen, and if they end up fighting nobody will be there to stop them, so you definitely want to give them their own space when they can't be supervised.

So in point form:
1. train them separately
2. always supervise play
3. pick the dogs in the litter that are middle energy
4. neuter them as soon as you can
5. be confident, and calm.
6. give each puppy equal attention
7. expose them to all people, places, sounds, and animals as possible in their first 15 weeks of life.

Again, I will mention i's very hard to raise two puppies at the same time, so make sure you are very organized and have knowledge of canine behaviour. If you have experience raising a dog from puppyhood and are a confident, strong, consistent leader, I say go for it! It's a good challenge and you will create an awesome little pack. If this is your first dog, read up a lot and just be 100% committed to training and socializing the puppies from day one. If you feel like it might be too overwhelming, train one dog first, see how that goes and then add a second puppy

Good luck with everything, I hope this helped a little bit and congratulations on your puppies! Any questions, just ask, I'd be happy to help!